GB2025882A

GB2025882A - Transferring articles from one conveyor selectively to at least two processing sitel

Info

Publication number: GB2025882A
Application number: GB7924737A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Kloeckner Haensel GmbH
Current assignee: Kloeckner Haensel GmbH
Priority date: 1978-07-17
Filing date: 1979-07-16
Publication date: 1980-01-30
Also published as: IT1125404B; DE2831323C2; IT7923976A0; DE2831323A1; DK148741B; CH640194A5; BR7907880A; DK297979A; DK148741C; GB2025882B; NL7905386A; US4282964A

Description

1

SPECIFICATION Transfer device

The present invention relates to a transfer device for transferring articles, arriving on an endless feeder belt in transverse rows, in particular pieces of confectionery, such as chocolate bars or chocolate wafers, chocolates with centres and the like, to at least two processing stations.

Transfer devices of this type have already been disclosed, wherein a transfer belt is downstream of the feeder belt and runs at the same height and in the same direction as the feeder beli. The end" of the feeder belt has a nose, which can be tilted downwards for convi6ying arriving articles on to a discharge belt which is arranged at a lower level than the feeder belt. Sensors are provided which control the tilting of the nose as a function of the articles arriving on the feeder belt. Due to their very complicated construction, devices of this type have the disadvantage of extensive space requirement which makes it very difficult to set up the device in a manufacturing area. To transferthe articles arriving on the feeder belt to the discharge belt, it is necessary to provide a frame, carriage or the like, which is displaceable in the direction of the feeder belt. To control this properly, there is also required a complicated drive arrangement with multiple controls.

It is the object of the invention to simplify 95 devices of this type.

According to the invention, there is provided a transfer device for transferring articles to at least two processing stations and comprising a feeder belt for receiving transverse rows of the articles, an endless conveyor belt downstream of the feeder belt and operating at the same height and in the same direction as the feeder belt, the feeder belt having at its downstream end a downwardly tiltable nose, by way of which arriving articles can be brought to a discharge belt positioned below the feeder belt, means for controlling the tilting of the nose as a function of the articles arriving on the feeder belt, a transfer belt adapted for pivotal movement at one end thereof about an axis substantially in the plane of the discharge belt, the transfer belt being tiltable up and down about the axis so as to lie either in the plane of the discharge belt or the plane of the nose in its downwardly 50. tilted position, thereby to transfer articles in transverse rows from said feeder belt to the discharge belt.

The transfer belt may consist of a conveyor cloth which is laid in the shape of a U around a belt holder, pivotably mounted on one side, and of 120 which one end is connected to a tension spring and the other end is connected to a stop which moved to and fro in the plane of the belt and in the conveying direction. A drive is provided for the stop and the belt holder, which drive, in the take- 125 over position of the belt holder pivoted upwards, retracts the stop, working as a counter holder, together with the conveyor cloth against the spring action at the speed of the feeder belt and GB 2 025 882 A 1 causes the stop with the conveyor cloth to come to rest after the articles have been taken over, in order to pivot the belt holder into the transfer position down to the plane of the discharge belt and then to move the stop, which now acts as a pusher, forward together with the conveyor cloth.

On the other hand, however, it is also possible to form the transfer belt from an endless conveyor belt which is provided with a reversing drive and runs over the belt holder which is mounted on one side and which is pivotable to and fro between the take-over position and the delivery position. The transfer belt is included in the sensor control loop of the entire control installation and runs synchronously with the belt speed of the feeder belt.

Finally, however, it is also possibleto design the installation according tothe invention in such a way that a discharge belt runs above the plane of the feeder belt and, accordingly, the tiltable noses of the feeder belt can be tilted upwards arid, correspondingly, the transfer belt with its drive is likewise arranged above the plane of the feeder belt or pass-on belt.

The device according to the invention can be yet further improved if the transfer belt together with its drive and the requisite control equipment forms a self-contained unit which can be connected in at a break in a conveying path. This makes it possible always to locate the transfer device at the point of the feed of the articles where the further processing positions make it necessary. Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings wherein:100 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of an entire transport installation incorporating the transfer device of the present invention, and Figure 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic representation of the transfer device. 105 The installation of Figure 1 comprises an upstream belt 1 onto which the articles, coming from the production station are delivered in successive transverse rows. The upstream belt which, depending on the requirements, can move to and fro in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, in order to pull the rows apart or to pack them closer, is mounted, together with its guides, control elements and the drive mechanism, in a movable carriage 10. The upstream belt is followed by a feeder belt 2 which is mounted with its guide rollers and drive rollers in a machine frame 12 which is likewise movable. At its end, remote from the upstream belt 1, the feeder belt 2 merges into a nose 3 which can be tilted up and down (as indicated in broken lines) and on which the articles S arrive and can be transferred, depending on the position of the nose, either onto a pass-on belt 4 operating at the same height, or to a transfer device, described hereafter, which is in a lower position is formed by a selfcontained unit 17.

The unit 17 has a discharge conveyor 20 for transferring the articles to a packaging machine (not shown), or other processing station.

2 GB 2 025 882 A 2 The pass-on belt 4 which, together with its drive mechanism, is accommodated in the machine frame 14 conveys the articles S forward, to a different processing station (not shown) which maybe a packaging machine ora stacker.

The discharge belt 20 is located below the nose 3 and arranged in such a way that the arriving articles S which lie in transverse rows one behind the other are always deposited in rows on the discharge belt 20. The transverse rows which are to be deposited successively are arranged one behind the other in the direction of the rows so that the articles can be packaged individually one after the other, for example in the packaging machine which follows the discharge belt 20.

The nose 3 of the feeder belt 2 can be tilted downwardly into the position shown in Figure 2 by control means, sensors and the like, (not shown). In this downwardly tilted position, the nose 3 is followed by a transfer belt 7 which is guided over a belt holder 8. The belt holder is pivotable up and down about an axis 9 (controlled by sensors and control elements, not shown) so as to be in the appropriately lowered position to receive articles S from the transfer belt 7 and transfer them to the discharge belt 20.

The transfer belt 7 can be an endless conveyor belt provided with a reversing drive so that it can run to and fro intermittently by switching of the drive mechanism. In the embodiment shown, the belt 7 is, however, a cloth belt which is laid in the shape of a U around the belt holder 8. The upper end 7' of this cloth belt is connected to a carrier 22 of a stop 2 1. The other end 7" of the cloth belt is, however, connected to a tension spring 19 which tautly tensions the cloth belt over the belt holder 8.

The mode of operation of this transfer device is as follows:

As soon as the nose 3 of the feeder belt 2 is tilted downwardly into the position shown in Figure 2 and goods S arrive in the direction of the arrow, the belt holder 8 is in its upward-pivoted position. At this instant, however, the stop 21 with its carrier 22 is in its forward position, drawn in broken lines. At the same time the cloth belt 7 is retracted to the corresponding extent by the spring 19. As soon as the articles pass from the nose 3 they make contact with the cloth belt 7 and stop 21. The stop acts as a counter-holder which, if necessary, aligns the adjacent articles S. The stop then immediately moves, together with the transverse row of articles S into its rear position drawn in full lines. The belt 7 also performs this movement against the action of the spring 19. As soon as the transfer has taken place, the belt holder 8 pivots into its horizontal position, drawn in broken lines, in which it is aligned with the plane of the discharge belt 20. The holder 22 with the stop 21 now moves forward again, the articles S being transferred from the belt 7 to the discharge belt 20. This takes place in the most gentle manner, since the belt 7 always moves with the stop 2 1, so that damage to the articles is avoided. During the transfer. the articles cannot slide about on the belt 7 and cannot therefore be scratched, as happened in known installations. During the forward movement of the stop 21 which, during the transfer of the articles to the discharge belt 20, acts as a pusher, the belt 7 is always also moved corresponding to the directiop of movement of the stop holder 22 and the tension of the spring 19.

A soon as the transfer has taken place, the belt holder 8 returns to its upward-pivoted position ready to transfer further articles from the nose 3. It can be arranged that more than one transverse row can be transferred simultaneously from the nose 3 to the discharge belt 20.

A particular advantage, however, is the transfer of rows individually, since this results in a single row of articles lying one behind the other on the discharge belt 20, as is required for further processing, in particular for individual packaging.

If, however, articles S are to be passed on to the other processing station, this is effected at the appropriate moment by pivoting the nose 3 upwards to the height of the pass-on belt 4 to which the articles are then transferred.

The pass-on belt 4 leads to a belt 5, which, in turn, leads to a storage belt 6. The storage belt 6 is mounted in a frame 16 and transfers excess articles, i.e. those which cannot be handled by the processing stations, to a storage station (not shown). The belt 5 can be tilted downwardly, so as alternatively to pass the articles received from the pass-on belt 4 to a unit 18. this unit 18 is similar to the unit 17 and includes a discharge conveyor for passing the articles to the other processing station.

Claims

1. A transfer device for transferring articles to at least two processing stations and comprising a feeder belt for receiving transverse rows of the articles, an endless conveyor belt downstream of the feeder belt and operating at the same height and in the same direction as the feeder belt, the feeder belt having at its downstream end a downwardly tiltable nose, by way of which arriving articles can be brought to a discharge belt positioned below the feeder belt, means for controlling the tilting of the nose as a function of the articles arriving on the feeder belt, a transfer belt adapted for pivotal movement at one end thereof about an axis substantially in the plane of the discharge belt, the transfer belt being tiltable up and down about the axis so as to lie either in the plane of the discharge belt or the plane of the nose in its downwardly tilted position, thereby to transfer articles in transverse rows from said feeder belt to the discharge belt.

2. A transfer device according to Claim 1, wherein the transfer belt comprises a U-shaped cloth transport belt passing around a belt holder supported pivotably on one side, said transport belt at one end being connected to a tension spring and at the other end to a stop member movable back and forth along the article transport direction and in the belt plane, drive means 1 3 GB 2 025 882 A 3 connected to the stop member and the transport belt which in the transfer position of the upward pivoted belt holder pulls the stop rearwardly to operate as a counter-holder and cause the transport belt to pull against the spring tension and move at a speed about equal to that of the feeder belt, after the transfer belt accepts articles, the spring tension making the stop with the transport belt to come to rest in order to swing the belt holder into the transfer position down into the plane of the discharge belt, thereafter to cause the stop to move forward along with the transport belt to push the articles onto the discharge belt.

3. A transfer device according to Claim 1, 30 wherein the transfer belt is an endless conveyor belt provided with a reversing drive and which can be swung back and forth between the transfer position and the release position.

4. A transfer device according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the transport belt is included in the feeler control loop of the overall transport system and operates synchronously with the speed of the feeder belt.

5. A transfer device according to Claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 in which the transfer belt together with its drive and control devices forms a self-contained unit which can be connected in a break in a conveyor path.

6. A transfer device constructed substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by the Courier Press, Leamington Spa, 1980. Published by the Patent Office. 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A lAY, from which copies maybe obtained.